BLOOMINGTON, Ind. (AP) _ Indiana has more than doubled the price of firewood permits that allow the public to cut their own firewood in designated areas of state forests.
 
Those permits had cost $3, but the price rose to $10 on July 1. The Department of Natural Resources says the $7 increase is the first firewood permit fee hike in more than 30 years.
 
The permits allow holders to cut enough wood to fill the bed of a pickup truck.
 
The Herald-Times reports (http://bit.ly/1CSKCa3 ) that in southern Indiana that much wood usually costs about $50.
 
Assistant state forester Dan Ernst says state forests “have a long tradition of offering economical firewood opportunities for home heating.''
 
People holders can cut fallen hardwood trees in areas of state forests where managed timber harvests have been completed.